


I Don't Know You (But I Think I Hate You)

by dreamonlosers



Series: Notes from No One [1]
Category: The Last of Us
Genre: Friendship, Hurt, Minor Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-11
Updated: 2017-02-11
Packaged: 2018-09-23 14:43:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9661892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamonlosers/pseuds/dreamonlosers
Summary: “Do you think they’re still there? I mean, they probably aren’thunters, right?” Ellie asked. “I mean, we could at least tell them that their guy died.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> I love this game so much.
> 
> I've been thinking about the notes in the game and wanted to expand on the dialogue that follows. I make them up on my own, but I think I might also include Ish in one of these fics. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> By the way: can you guess who the unnamed characters are? They belong to a different show.

_Carl, I’m so sorry._

_I should’ve known better. I never should’ve have left, I know that now. But that doesn’t bring back your sister. She’s still dead. I’m so sorry._

_We need to stick together, now more than ever. We’re setting up near the bridge at the end of the road. Go left at the traffic light and keep going. If you read this, meet us there._

_We’re waiting for you._

Joel huffed and shook his head at the lifeless body on the floor. The wound on the neck is ragged and torn open and the blood oozing from the gash is still fresh and so is the glistening black ink on the note. A Colt Python lay next to him, but the chamber was empty and the man had no more ammo on him, likely having used it against the infected before punching his ticket. Joel moved on; Ellie followed.

“Do you think they’re still there? I mean, they probably aren’t _hunters_ , right?” Ellie asked. “I mean, we could at least tell them that their guy died.”

She stood behind him, watching him look for gaps in the wall that could be pried open. The buildings were connected in a sort of strip-mall manner, but the walls between them were thick and some littered with plumbing. Joel stuck his hands in a crack and began pulling apart the wood, swearing as it splintered in his palm. A labyrinth of metal tubes was revealed, but the gap was big enough for Ellie. 

Joel moved aside as Ellie crouched down, having given up on waiting for Joel to answer her. “Watch your head,” he warned, and she rolled her eyes.

Ellie shimmied to the other side, her handgun loaded and ready. She fiddled with the weapon as she peered through the room. Joel waited on his heels, about to say something before hearing her say, “Shit, Joel! Clicker.”

“Fuck,” he muttered. The tormenting sounds of clicking rang through the room as if gears in a machine were revolving—it sounded as though there was only one, but he wouldn’t take the risk. “Okay, Ellie, open the door for me. Quietly, c’mon.”

His breath had stopped when he heard the twitch of the lock and doorknob. Ellie crawled back in the room with him, her quick breaths silenced by the hand over her mouth. Joel crouched behind the doorpost and took the bow from his rucksack, loaded an arrow, and took careful aim at the walking corpse stumbling into the room. It knocked over shelves, seemingly shocked by its own noise and screeching its unbearable screech. Joel released the string and watched it pierce its chest. It gurgled and collapsed in a heap of fungi and rotting flesh. 

It sounded as though the rest of the room was clear, but Joel warned Ellie to stay quiet. He crept over to the putrid corpse to retrieve his arrow, yanking out of the chest and wiping the goop on his jeans. 

Ellie turned to look at the corpse and pointed at the expert arrow lodged between the fungal plates of the torso. Like the body of the man with the note, it seemed fairly new and had been powerful enough to slice through layers of fungus and muscle. “Joel, look. Do you think it belonged to the guy?”

He grabbed the shaft and planted his foot on the fallen infected, removing it and admiring the handiwork—it had been clearly crafted by someone more than an amateur. It glistened with blood in the dim lights and Joel wished he knew where the bow accompanying it was hiding. That thing must have had serious power and it would have been a shame to let it go to waste.

“I doubt it—probably belonged to someone that was lookin’ for him.” Joel peered out the dirty window, spotting a good place for them to go next. “Keep your eyes open, there might be more than just infected.”

She was stuffing another comic in her backpack when Joel looked over at her and she startled, “Oh, yeah, you got it…Eyes open.”

The sky was streaked with hues of violet and tangerine when they finally emerged from the abandoned slums. They were on the outskirts of the city and were nearing the forest. Ellie took a moment to pause and look up at the traffic signals, barely making out the colors as they were unlit it in the darkening atmosphere. She took a look down the left-leaning road and noted the arch of the upturned drawbridge a few miles down. Changing her gaze to the fallen infected on the cement, another arrow was stuck in the head of a runner. The feathers were a striking trio of white, green and red just like the one they had found earlier. Ellie pulled it free and gave it to Joel.

He frowned at her before she said, “It’s another arrow like the one before. This is the way to the group in that note—they’re probably still there.”

Joel shook his head. “Maybe, but we’re not going to find out. Just because they ain’t hunters doesn’t mean they’re any good.” 

Ellie shrugged her shoulders and nudged a rock with her foot, not agreeing with him but not objecting either. It wouldn’t be worth mentioning that she could see the embers of a dying fire near the bridge, although she couldn’t find any signs of a human from where she was standing. A shadowy figure hung low, but it could have been anyone—or anything.

“And what does that make us, Joel?” Ellie asked, cringing at her own lousy guilt. It made her think of what Tess had said right before they left her to fend off the military, remembered seeing her lifeless body in a pool of its own blood on the marble floor. _Guess what? We're shitty people, Joel. It's been that way for a long time._

Joel didn’t bother to look at her. He turned to where she was looking, squinting at the end of the road and stuffing his hands in his pockets. His shoulders slumped and the hurt on his face made him look as old as he was, no doubt also recalling what his partner had said before her demise. 

“We’re _survivors_ , Ellie. That’s all we are.” 

She ended up mimicking his posture, looking at her own feet. It wouldn’t do her any good to keep staring at the abandoned camp. Her words were heavy in her mouth and came out sounding bitterer than she had thought she felt. “Okay, Joel.”

They walked in silence into the shadows of the forest. Ellie felt like they were being consumed by the darkness, and maybe she felt like it was a good thing, because damned if she was going to be a shitty person and damned if she was going to let Joel be one—if she was going to let Joel make her into one.

Distantly, she wondered if _Carl_ —the one addressed in the letter—went to join his group.

_Carl, I’m so sorry._

_I should’ve known better. I never should’ve have left, I know that now. But that doesn’t bring back your sister. She’s still dead. I’m so sorry._

_We need to stick together, now more than ever. We’re setting up near the bridge at the end of the road. Go left at the traffic light and keep going. If you read this, meet us there._

_We’re waiting for you._

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a kudos if you enjoyed it! Comment if you have praise/criticisms!
> 
> Title: Chump - Green Day (Dookie)


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